My only regret is only having one day. If the first Saturday happened I would have had a full day for side stages/ Paramore MCR and then a day for the mainstage from the black pit. I have a feeling I’ll be back next year, if only for Soco.
I looked at the line up and because of the problematic acts I’m ok taking a risk and hoping SoCo, YC and Finch do one-offs in Southern California. Every other act I’m interested in tours consistently or I’ve seen them enough times.
Had a fun time but don't think I'd do it again (besides not really being interested in next year's lineup) because it was a little too much for me, like just too many people and trying to navigate my way through the crowd was more than a little overwhelming. Also had to miss out on Fest for this so catching up on everything I missed this weekend there was kind of a bummer.
Everytime I go to a festival I remember just how much I hate being around tons of people. The lineup next year is so good though…if they add a 2nd day I might have to
The pit area accessible for GA folks was technically fenced in. In order to access, there was a gates entrance over to the left near the bathrooms that would go around the bathroom building/food tents and into the front of Black stage. As the acts on black and pink get bigger throughout the day, more people crammed in and eventually they start restricting how many people can be in there till more leave. Since they just gated at the entrance and didn’t have any ropes or fences for the line, it was less a line and more a mob trying to squeeze through the entrance. Until around I want to say BMTH they just stopped letting people in there at all, even when people left.
Next year is kind of a weaker lineup for me, personally, but the undercard has a LOT of bands I've never seen before (Something Corporate, The Academy Is..., Michelle Branch, Mxpx, Goldfinger, Fenix TX), so I'm still interested.
IMO next year is so much better than this year, mainly because almost every artist on this year's lineup tours constantly whereas next year is a bunch of rare bookings (fenix tx, academy is, something corporate, gym class heroes, yellowcard, finch, etc). I was fully expecting a second date to get announced today after this weekend wrapped up, but now I guess they're saving that announcement for early next year to coincide with lineup additions maybe?
yeah there’s only 2 names I’d see on that whole lineup, but it does seem to be aimed at an older audience than I am
Must sees next year: Blink Green Day Something Corporate Michelle Branch Finch Lit Fenix TX MXPX The Ataris Will see, if there's no conflicts: Good Charlotte Gym Class Heroes Motion City Soundtrack Yellowcard Simple Plan Sum 41 New Found Glory Less Than Jake The Academy Is Zebrahead Goldfinger The Movielife Kenny Hoopla
I mean, the argument could be made that MCR, Acceptance, Avril, Boys like Girls, 3Oh!3, The Ready Set, and Saosin all don’t tour very much either. There’s more than that, but those artists for sure seem like they qualify. I think both lineups are really cool, and I personally enjoy the overall music from this year’s much more than next year’s, because it leans more in the hot topic playlist style bands while next year’s hits on a lot more radio rock / pop punk spectrums of the scene. It’s pretty cool that both years have such a different lineup while also being very warped tour.
Im not a big Green Day fan but next years undercard is amazing for me. Missed pierce the veil so I'll see them next year, then I can list off a dozen other bands I either haven't seen or would love to see again. Concert lineups are obviously always subjective and I've certainly disagreed with 'amazing' lineups before so to each their own. I am not aware of too many problematic artists, but from what other people have shared, it's bands that I will skip anyway (30 seconds, all time low, front bottoms). I have no idea who else is an issue.
next year is for the people who grew up watching american pie. this year was for people who grew up voting for mcr on trl
I wouldn't count MCR, as they just did a massive world tour that basically hit every major market for multiple dates. Avril too, I know her tour this year was as support for MGK but she did a headlining tour for her last album in 2019. But yeah I agree with the rest, plus The Starting Line and Armor for Sleep.
My must sees for next year: Blink Something Corporate Yellowcard Fenix TX The Academy Is Michelle Branch The Offspring Finch Sum 41 NFG Also I just recently started listening to Tigersjaw and Beach Bunny, so would look forward to catching them too.
Yes, I got in right in the middle of TBS. Everyone was holding their hands in the air and screaming "no pushing". Actually worked effectively.
I think the why was to stop a crowd crush from people rushing up front for a free for all. The viewing area went on forever and would have been even better had the screens been higher up (lowered my day for wind). I can only assume it was a reactive solution, and an attempt to break the crowd into 'areas' and give people less of an incentive to push forwards and forwards. After about half way through the day, I just assumed the GA pit was full and didn't bother trying to muscle too close. Just behind the GA pit was still decently close as far as festivals goes. I barely saw any pushing and shoving and rushing for a better spot so maybe it worked doing it this way? I guarantee without, there would have been tons of MCR fans rushing from Thursday or another stage and just shoving, but I think most got the message that if you weren't up front by that point, it wasn't worth causing a scene, as it was a gated section. I think that the 2nd weekend was probably more crowded as the GA pit entrance was not advertised well so a lot of people assumed in front of the barricade was VIP or at least GA+ and probably left with that assumption. The word was out for the 2nd weekend so I imagine a lot more people were queuing to get in. While it was EXTREMELY crowded near the stages, other than a brief moment or two, I still felt I had control and could move around when and if I needed to so crowd control management from my perspective was a success.
Must See Green Day Blink 182 Something Corporate Motion City Soundtrack Michelle Branch Goldfinger Really Want to See Good Charlotte Sum 41 Say Anything Mxpx The Academy Is... Fenix TX Want to See Simple Plan The Offspring Gym Class Heroes Less Than Jake Turnover Beach Bunny Joyce Manor The Front Bottoms Citizen Tigers Jaw Lit Zebrahead
I guess I haven't been to a festival of this size since 2013 riot fest but I've just never seen an issue with doing it the way this always been. Sure the headliner gets crowded and there's an initial rush but it always gets better eventually. Idk 15 years of warped, bamboozle, riot, and other various festivals...never seemed like an issue.
Things are different now. Astroworld really changed how (some, not you Riot Fest Friday) festival capacities work, especially in specific areas. It's better to limit the amount of people in the front than have an influx of people where someone could die or get seriously injured.
Bonnaroo has been doing the pit thing for 15 years. They actually clear it out after every act so that no one camps in there all day and everyone gets the chance to be up close